The Australia Institute and the Jubilee Australia Research Centre have made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Economics inquiry into Australia’s foreign bribery laws and their implementation. Our submission is based on research conducted by the CAER – Corporate Analysis. Enhanced Responsibility, an independent environmental, social and governance research house. An increasing number of ASX100 companies have operations in countries... Read More

The South Australian government has launched a royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle, and whether it is desirable to expand the industry, perhaps into power generation, fuel enrichment, and waste storage. The Commission is accepting submissions on four issues papers relating to: 1) Exploration, mining and milling nuclear material 2) Processing and manufacture of radioactive substances 3) ... Read More

The NSW Government is considering how to establish a community benefits fund from the potential development of a coal seam gas (CSG) industry in the state. The Australia Institute made a submission.Key points:Gas company contributions to a Community Benefits Fund must be compulsory, as recommended by the Chief Scientist, not voluntary, as currently proposed by the NSW Government in its Gas Plan. Any Community Benefit Fund payments should be paid... Read More

The Planning Assessment Commission for the Mt Thorley-Warkworth Continuation Project (Warkworth Project) has requested further submissions relating to a proposal to change the State Environmental Planning Policy (mining, petroleum production and extractive industries) (Mining SEPP). The current Mining SEPP requires consent authorities to give the “significance” of a resource the greatest weight in their assessment of mining projects. The proposed... Read More

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Environment and Planning Committee of the Victorian Legislative Council Inquiry into Unconventional Gas in Victoria. Our submission addresses three myths of Australia’s unconventional gas industry: That there is a gas shortageThat expanding gas supply will reduce Australian gas pricesThat gas development creates lots of jobs Our recommendations are: An urgent review of policy and programs that subs... Read More

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Planning Assessment Commission for Newcastle’s Terminal 4 coal project. We oppose the Terminal 4 project. For the project’s capacity to be utilised an increase in the rate of coal extraction in NSW is required beyond the continuation and replacement of existing mines. Such increases are unlikely to be in the public interest given the social and environmental impacts of current mines and their impac... Read More

The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment’s Integrated Mining Policy during its exhibition period. A problem with the NSW planning system relating to mine assessment in recent years has been economic assessment. There are two areas in need of reform: The quality of economic assessment and enforcement of economic assessment guidelinesThe timing of economic assessment and debate in the planning proc... Read More

The Australia Institute made written and in-person submissions to the Planning Assessment Commission on Shenhua’s Watermark coal project in June 2014. The economic and agricultural assessment in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Watermark project is flawed. It is based on biased modelling techniques and ignores the risks the project presents to the region’s agricultural industry. The financial benefits of the project have been over... Read More

The Australia Institute made a presentation to the Planning and Assessment Commission for the Warkworth Continuation Project in Singleton on December 18 2014. Independent assessment has shown several times that the benefits of the Warkworth Project do not outweigh its considerable environmental and social costs. Judges, peer reviewers and the wider community have found deep flaws in assessment of the Warkworth project over many years. Flawed asse... Read More

The Tax White Paper is an opportunity to look at areas where the tax system is failing and how to improve it. There are many ways Australia can tax smarter and reduce distortions that the current tax system creates. The Australia Institute has identified a number of areas for reform, outlined in our recent paper It’s the revenue stupid: Ideas for a brighter budget. These proposals have the potential raise billions of dollars in additional revenue... Read More

The Australia Institute is the country’s most influential progressive think tank. We conduct research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues in order to inform public debate and bring greater accountability to the democratic process.